Adhesions Treatment in Charlottesville, VA
Treat your adhesions today and find relief from symptoms.
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What are Adhesions?
When you cut your hand with a knife, your body responds by summoning its resources to heal the injury. This involves stopping any bleeding, forming a scab to keep out infection, reopening blood vessels to bring oxygen back to the tissue, and then regrowing cells to replace the damaged ones. In the end, you often have a visible scar where the injury took place. Your body does the same thing in response to an internal injury in your abdomen. Sometimes, things heal with scar tissue between your internal organs or the walls of your abdomen. Adhesions are these bands of scar that can cause tissues or organs to stick together. They can occur in the pelvis (pelvic adhesions) and inside the uterus (intrauterine adhesions).
Pelvic adhesions can affect the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and rectum. Adhesions within the uterine cavity (Intrauterine adhesions) can affect menstrual flow and the ability to get pregnant. While previous surgery is the most common cause of adhesions, they can also form from other sources of inflammation: infection, endometriosis, diverticular disease, Crohn’s disease, cancer, radiation, and peritoneal dialysis for kidney disease.
While most adhesions go unnoticed without any symptoms, others can lead to discomfort or reproductive challenges. We most often encounter adhesions related to endometriosis, previous pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and prior surgery.
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Symptoms of Adhesions
Adhesions can cause different symptoms depending on their location and severity:
Pelvic/abdominal adhesions:
- Chronic pelvic pain that does not improve over time
- Pain during intercourse or deep pelvic pressure
- Difficulty becoming pregnant or infertility concerns
- Digestive discomfort if adhesions involve the intestines/bowel.
- Bladder pressure or urinary changes from pelvic adhesions
- Bloating, nausea, vomiting, constipation
Adhesions inside the uterus:
- Light or absent menstrual periods
- Irregular menstrual cycles or spotting between periods
- Recurrent miscarriage or trouble carrying a pregnancy
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How are Adhesions Treated?
At The Center For Advanced Gynecology, we offer non-surgical and surgical treatments designed to address your specific symptoms. Our team specializes in minimally invasive techniques to treat both pelvic and intrauterine adhesions.
Non-Surgical Management:
- Pain management strategies: Over-the-counter or prescribed medications to ease your discomfort.
- Pelvic floor physical therapy: Exercises and techniques that target pain caused by adhesions.
- Hormonal therapy: For intrauterine adhesions affecting menstrual flow or fertility.
Surgical Treatment:
- Laparoscopic Surgery: A minimally invasive surgery to carefully separate pelvic adhesions and restore organ function.
- Hysteroscopic Adhesiolysis: A procedure performed through the cervix to separate adhesions within the uterus.
- Post-procedure support: Estrogen therapy or temporary devices (such as balloons or IUDs) to help prevent scar tissue from reforming for adhesions in the uterus.
Who Needs Adhesion Treatment?
There are several critical aspects involved in treating potential adhesions.
- Diagnosis: Unless someone has already looked inside the abdomen or the uterus and directly visualized the adhesions, it is difficult to diagnose based on symptoms or imaging studies. A careful medical history will provide clues to events that may have led to adhesion formation. For adhesions within the uterus, looking inside the uterus is fairly easy to do with a small camera in the office, but looking in the abdomen requires laparoscopic surgery.
- Determining Fault: When considering pelvic adhesions, the mere presence of adhesions does not mean they are responsible for a person’s symptoms. The majority of patients with adhesions do not have any symptoms, so it is often hard to accurately predict who will benefit from surgery.
- Surgery can cause more adhesions: Removing, or rather separating, adhesions involves causing some degree of tissue injury which is the cause of adhesions in the first place. Therefore, we cannot predict how your body will heal: adhesions may reform and may not heal in a better way. The good news, however, is that from our experience adhesions formed after planned laparoscopic surgery are significantly less dense and symptomatic than adhesions formed from infection, endometriosis, or previous emergency surgery.
You might need adhesion treatment if you experience:
- Chronic pelvic pain that affects your daily activities
- Pain during intercourse
- Difficulty becoming pregnant or unexplained infertility
- Irregular or absent periods from intrauterine adhesions
- Recurrent miscarriage related to uterine scarring
- Bowel dysfunction caused by pelvic scar tissue
- Urinary pressure or changes due to pelvic adhesions
- Previous pelvic or uterine surgery with lasting pain
- Symptoms that worsen over time or disrupt daily life
What are the Risks of Leaving Adhesions Untreated?
This is a difficult question to answer! The risks depend on the type, severity, and location of the adhesions. In the majority of cases, adhesions do not cause any symptoms or need treatment. However, untreated adhesions can lead to ongoing pelvic pain, menstrual changes, fertility problems, potentially pregnancy complications and even obstruction of the intestines leading to a surgical emergency. If you experience worsening pain, irregular cycles, or difficulty conceiving, treatment can help restore comfort and prevent further issues.
What To Expect
If adhesions are suspected, your provider will take time to listen to your symptoms, medical history, and any concerns you want to share. They will walk you through what to expect at each step and answer your questions, so you feel comfortable and informed before the pelvic exam.
During a pelvic exam, your provider will check for areas of tenderness or changes caused by adhesions. Imaging tests, such as an ultrasound or MRI, might be recommended to get a clearer view of the pelvis. For intrauterine adhesions, a hysteroscopy lets your provider view the inside of the uterus with a thin camera and perform treatment if needed. The uterine cavity can also be evaluated with two other imaging studies: a saline-infused ultrasound or a hysterosalpingography (special x-ray test). In some cases, a laparoscopy may be recommended. This involves making small incisions on the abdomen to insert a camera and instruments, allowing your provider to confirm pelvic adhesions and remove them during the same procedure.
After your evaluation, your provider will review the findings with you. Together, you’ll talk through the best treatment options based on your needs and health goals. You’ll have plenty of time to ask questions and discuss next steps, so you leave feeling supported and confident in your care plan.
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Why Choose The Center For Advanced Gynecology
The Center for Advanced Gynecology, established in 2018, is dedicated to improving your health by offering expertise in various areas, with a specific focus on gynecological care and advanced surgical techniques when surgery is needed.
Our team provides specialized expertise in non-surgical treatment of chronic pelvic pain, painful intercourse, pudendal neuralgia, and vaginal, vulvar, and bladder pain.
Since opening our doors, we have recognized the need in our community for more than just specialty care and have a growing practice in routine gynecologic care, cancer screening, Pap smears, menopausal management, hormonal imbalances, hormone replacement therapy, breast care, contraceptive care, urinary incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse.
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